Solutions

In a haul cycle, timing is everything. IntelliMine products streamline every step of the mining process, allowing your mine to utilize time and resources to the fullest. Optimize operations, and maximize productivity.

IntelliMine solutions allow your mine to leverage operational data to achieve maintenance goals. With the tools to pinpoint the most important maintenance projects, and the power to address big issues before they occur, your workforce can reduce downtime and increase revenue.

A safe mine is ultimately a culture in which people make the right decisions based on the right information. Modular follows a multi-layered safety approach that relies on integrated solutions to empower mine personnel.

Mines are producing more material and more data than ever before, and both must be processed efficiently to be profitable. The IntelliMine suite provides the analysis and reporting tools you need to turn data into information, and information into action.

Constant communication is vital for safety and productivity. Modular’s unrivaled MasterLink® Wireless Solution provides the reliable, continuous transmission required to sustain vital connections between your mine’s decision makers, the equipment they monitor, and the operators in the drivers’ seats.

With large investments in both equipment and labor, it is crucial to maintain a high level of supervision and transparency throughout your mine. The IntelliMine suite enables dispatchers, managers, and other decision-makers to stay on top of operations, from the face to the crusher.

Modular, in collaboration with Komatsu, offers a proven commercially available autonomous truck and fleet solution. The Autonomous Haulage Systems (AHS) is at the forefront of mining technology as one of the most cost effective solutions for fleet management; delivering unrivalled safety and fleet optimization in complex mining operations without the requirement of truck operators.

The DISPATCH® system is the industry’s most trusted fleet management solution, allowing you to implement specific production strategies with an extensive set of mining tools.

The DISPATCH® Underground system delivers unparalleled mine management from the production face to the central office, and all points in between, to provide the most effective end-to-end solution for greater efficiency, productivity, and safety of underground operations.

The MineCare® solution improves every aspect of the maintenance management process, providing the information and tools you need to monitor the health of your entire fleet in real time. Prevent catastrophic equipment failures by turning data into information, and information into action.

For more than 15 years, mines around the world have used ProVision® machine guidance solutions to increase their total tons moved, improve the accuracy of material movement, and decrease costs associated with working outside of the mine plan.

Modular offers over 175 OEM interfaces, giving you access to important equipment health data. With ModularReady® interfaces, your mine’s operators, maintenance personnel, and managers can monitor the health of components such as engines, tires, hydraulics, brakes, and electrical systems.

With more than 35 years of experience delivering mine-tough mobile hardware, Modular has developed a reputation for systems that function reliably in the harshest of environmental conditions. The PTX-C platform builds on this success to offer marked increases in performance, fast start-up time, and the ability to accommodate the increasingly complex and growing number of applications specific to the mining industry.

Services

Modular Mining Services engineers have the technical expertise to uncover and address areas for improvement in real-time operations and maintenance. And, with rich experience across various commodities, companies, and cultures, we can help you form a plan that’s just right for your mine.

After more than three decades of experience in mining, we’ve found that system deployment success depends more on the people than the technology. The Modular Mining Services group works alongside your mine every step of the way, measuring our success by yours.

We are committed to creating value for our customers in everything we do. Modular Mining Services specializes in optimizing mine performance, and we are trusted advisors for crucial technical and business decisions at mines around the world.

To help companies reach peak performance across operations, Modular’s Mining Services team offers services that foster best practices and eliminate waste. We perform comprehensive evaluations and deliver concrete recommendations for improvements.

Company

We would love to hear from you! If you have questions about any of our products or want to learn more information, please fill out the form below and we will get back to you as soon as possible.

Modular revolutionized the mining industry with the DISPATCH Fleet Management system more than 35 years ago. Today, with more than 700 employees and 10 offices worldwide, we offer the most complete lineup of mine management solutions on the market.

We strive to be the first-choice supplier of knowledge-based solutions for the mining industry. As a fully-owned subsidiary of Komatsu LTD, Modular Mining Systems, Inc operates under Komatsu’s ‘Worldwide Code of Business Conduct,’ a global approach to maximizing its corporate value through the pursuit of “Quality and Reliability.”

Modular is headquartered in Tucson, AZ (USA), with 10 regional offices in key world-mining markets. Through this global distribution, round-the-clock support network, high-quality products, and ongoing improvement initiatives, we offer the most complete lineup of mine management solutions on the market.

Modular has an extensive collection of published articles, technical papers, and white papers, covering a wide range of topics. Browse our database for a look into the innovative contributions that Modular regularly makes to the mining industry.

Modular products and services optimize the entire mine, saving clients around the world millions of dollars each year and helping them exceed production goals. Download our brochures to learn more about our innovative solutions.

Support

Modular’s 24/7 Global Support network provides specialized skills from regional and global offices. All of our customers have local and global support at their fingertips. Modular support personnel are always there, ready to help.

Support personnel have in-depth access to and experience with our core product technology, and they are constantly looking for ways to provide improved structural services to Modular customers. Please contact us with any product questions.

DISPATCH Underground Fleet Management System

The DISPATCH® Underground system delivers unparalleled mine management from the production face to the central office, and all points in between, to provide the most effective end-to-end solution for greater efficiency, productivity, and safety of underground operations.

Purpose-Built Durability

Mobile Hardware

With more than 35 years of experience delivering mine-tough mobile hardware, Modular has established a reputation for building systems that function reliably from the deserts of the Australian outback to the Alaskan Boreal forest, and in the harshest of underground environments.

Modular’s current mobile platform provides robust computing power, a color touchscreen display, and wireless data connectivity, in a single package. Every Modular design undergoes rigorous lab and field testing for vibration, temperature, and moisture resistance.

The operators’ primary interface with the DISPATCH Underground system is through the 7” color touch screen display installed the cab of each equipment unit. Pre-configured equipment types include:

Load haul dump (LHD)

Underground haul truck

Production drill

Development drill

Roof bolter

Explosives truck

Mechanical scaler

Light vehicle

Auxiliary units

The mobile device utilizes large buttons, operator-selectable color schemes, and a crisp, high-resolution display. The user interface is specifically designed to accommodate low-light environments and conditions.

Communications

The DISPATCH Underground system works with your existing 802.11 (Wi-Fi)-compliant, distributed antenna system or other wireless data network to communicate between mobile equipment and the DISPATCH Underground system central server.

Core Modules

Modular has been delivering fleet management technology to the mining industry for more than 35 years. In this time, our focus has been to improve every aspect of mine operations. The DISPATCH Underground system provides the most comprehensive end-to-end solution for greater efficiency, productivity, and safety for all of
your underground operations.

Time Tracking

The Time Tracking module enables dispatchers to monitor equipment and location activity, utilization, and availability. The system utilizes Status Tracking and Equipment Cycle Tracking to produce a complete time usage model.

Status Tracking, the primary method of Time Tracking, enables operators to quickly alert dispatchers of changes to equipment or location status.

Equipment statuses are defined as:

Ready – Operator is logged in and the equipment is currently operating

Delay – Operator is on-board the equipment but the equipment will not be operating for a known period of time

Standby – Equipment is available for use but is not currently being operated

Down - Unavailable for work

Statuses can be further broken down into reason codes, and then mapped into time categories for reporting purposes.

Equipment Cycle Tracking is used to calculate productivity based on repeated actions of equipment. The equipment’s operating time is separated into several distinct stages, which are then linked together to form a cycle. For example, the following stages: Travel Empty/Full, Queue, Load, and Dump; form a haulage cycle for a haul truck.

Equipment Control

Task Management

Task Management handles all tasks and work orders assigned to the mobile fleet. By automating development and production processes, Task Management easily creates and monitors the progress of all scheduled tasks to:

Material Management

Material Management maintains material quantities and qualities between survey intervals in real time. Following a blast, ore control personnel can update material inventories as required. The system will then automatically track material inventory levels, grades, and densities as material is added or removed from a given location.

Track critical operational parameters such as tonnage, volume, and grade, for material movements between all locations, including:

Headings

Stopes

Stockpiles

Ore Passes

Draw points

Crushers

Locations Management

The Locations module enables Dispatch Engineers to create hierarchically-structured (parent/child) lists of the locations within your mine. The hierarchical locations structure provides the operator with an intuitive navigation tool that presents contextually-relevant information based on the equipment‘s current tracked position.

DISPATCH Underground Optional Module Categories

Equipment Tracking

Switchable RFID/GPS

The optional Switchable RFID/GPS module enables the positioning of equipment units that operate underground and on surface using both RFID and GPS sensors. The bi-modal positioning system automatically determines when the system utilizes each technology.

Equipment Control

Location Reason Code

The optional Location Reason Code module enables operators and dispatchers to set the status and reason code for work locations. Location Reason Code integrates with Task Management to enable process execution whereby the configured mining cycle can be automated.

For example, when an LHD operator has completed a task for cleaning a working face, the status and reason code of the face will automatically change to: Delay – Drilling, development. This signifies that the location is now in a delay state until the development drill arrives. In parallel, this status and reason code change will generate a task for the development drill to work at this face. Allowing the operators to advance a mining process provides an efficient means to task automation. Task lists are not updated while working in offline mode.

Benefits of the Location Reason Code module include:

Ability to quickly inform operators of new tasks as location conditions change

Allowing operators to advance stages of a work cycle based on the status of the working face

Reducing reaction times to draw point hang ups, ore pass blockages, and other delays at the working face

Crew Management

Lineup Management

The optional Line-Up module enables supervisors to make equipment assignments for the incoming crew and provides those assigned operators with the equipment's current location before the operators travel underground.

Safety Management

Equipment Prestart Checklist

The optional Equipment Prestart module ensures operator accountability for assessing equipment condition before use. The DISPATCH Underground system automatically records configurable PASS/FAIL information for Equipment Prestart checklist items. Generate exceptions for specific failed items, and review the Prestart history for each unity on a shift-by-shift basis.

Operators verify Equipment Prestart items on their mobile devices as part of the logon sequence. If a failed item falls within the “Do Not Operate” or “Contact Dispatcher” section, an exception notification displays on the dispatcher’s screen. A failed “Do Not Operate” item, such as: STEERING – DO NOT OPERATE! also generates an exception message for the dispatcher.

Location Checklist

The optional Location Checklist module ensures operator accountability for assessing workplace conditions before commencing work at a specific location.

Dispatchers use the module’s desktop application interface to create user-defined checklists for specific work locations. Upon arrival at a location, operators use their mobile devices to assign PASS or FAIL status to each item on the checklist. The PASS/FAIL information is automatically recorded in the DISPATCH Underground system. Exceptions can be generated for specific failed items.

Failed items that fall within the “Do Not Work” or “Contact Dispatcher” section automatically generate an exception notification which displays on the dispatcher’s screen.

Data Import and Export

The Data Import/Export feature allows you to import data from third-party applications (for example: ERP systems such as SAP® and Oracle®; Excel, and mine-planning tools) into the DISPATCH Underground system. Imported profiles are used to map comma-delimited ACSII file data to fields in the DISPATCH Underground system database.

Reduce error-prone manual data entry by importing:

Equipment tasks, production schedules, and draw cards

Mine locations, personnel, and equipment units

Data Import/Export also enables exporting of the following historical records into a spreadsheet or comma-delimited format:

Equipment cycle records

Drilling records

Material records

Reporting

The DISPATCH Underground system utilizes Microsoft SQL Server Reporting Services (SSRS) to enable real-time and historical reporting of the mining operation. The standard reports package includes several reports that cover current or past shifts, or a range of shifts, with a focus on the following key areas:

Production accounting

Time accounting

Safety

Mobile Activity

Store&Forward

Store&Forward ensures that data integrity is maintained when equipment travels outside the wireless data network. While operating without communications, all event data is stored on the mobile device and automatically forwarded to the central server when communication is restored. With Store&Forward: